website

Check us out on Instagram!

The Blog — tutorials

Christmas Craft Stick Puzzles Printable

Melissa Bastow

Tags Christmas, early learning, tutorials

Christmas Craft Stick Puzzles Printable

So school's out for the holidays, and I still need my kids to stay busily out of my hair while I finish up some last minute Christmas presents.  So I'm hoping to entertain them with some new Christmas craft stick puzzles.....at least they'll be busy for about 2.7 minutes. Just click the image to download these free craft stick puzzle printables, or you can click here. If you're not sure how craft stick puzzles work, you can check out the tutorial we posted here.


Kids Craft: Painting with Marbles

Melissa Bastow

Tags early learning, tutorials

Kids Craft: Painting with Marbles

We like messy activities at our house, and painting with marbles is one of our ultimate favorites.  Plus it has really cool results, and you can even display it without it looking like a 3 year old made it (even though they did). First of all you need supplies: • paper, cardboard, posterboard, or whatever surface you want to paint on • a box, or cookie sheet, or in our case a big dry erase board covered in plastic wrap (because it's going to get messy) • finger paint, acrylic paint, or whatever kind of paint you want to use...


Gumball Fishbowl Tutorial

Melissa Bastow

Tags tutorials

Gumball Fishbowl Tutorial

I used to have a fish in a blender.  It was an old blender that I had taken the blade out of, and it was just a goldfish, but it was seriously awesome.  Total conversation starter. Like this: "Is that a fish in your blender?" "Yup." "Why?" "I dunno." The other day I saw a picture of a fish in a gumball machine and I totally flipped out.  Because, GUESS WHAT?  I've had a gumball machine just sitting around for like 12 years!  I bought it thinking it was the coolest, and then never knew what to do with it....


Things of Pinterest: the Pillowcase Dress

Melissa Bastow

Tags inspiration, tutorials

Things of Pinterest: the Pillowcase Dress

When I was a kid my mom made sure I knew how to sew.  I was actually pretty good at it, but it's a skill that sits dormant in my life for lots of reasons.  Yet every once in awhile I feel a sewing itch - kind of like when you're wearing a wool sweater and you just have to rip it off and run through a raspberry patch naked to satisfy the tremendous need to scratch.  Except maybe not quite so dramatic. Lately I don't have time to sew anything major, so I decided that it would be fun to make...


Things of Pinterest: Sock Animals

Melissa Bastow

Tags inspiration, tutorials

Things of Pinterest: Sock Animals

I've made things out of socks before, like elephants and cats and pigs and stuff.  And now you all know how to make a beanbag sock octopus, but what other sock animals are out there?  This is what Pinterest had to show me about it: http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2010/05/sock-animal-rattle-tutorial.html This is a sock bunny rattle.  And it has a little jingle bell in it.  And it has no buttons or anything so your baby can suck on it all they want and not even choke to death. http://httpecho.deviantart.com/art/Horse-little-sock-doll-91916750 This horse is so little and cute I just want to squish it!  A sock...